| The
Way of Meditation
Meditation
Workshops and Events
Meditation is the very ground of spiritual cultivation.
The average human being spends most of their life engaged
in ceaseless, frantic activity from the moment they
wake until they go to sleep at night.
And for many people even the night’s sleep is
not restful as their thoughts and dreams continue unabated
and invade their opportunity for rest and relaxation.
For some, this habit continues right up until their
last breath.
Meditation is the exercise of giving a voice to waking
stillness, of reclaiming an important aspect of our
humanity. As humans, we have the capacity to experience
stillness but we don’t usually activate this potential
until we begin to meditate.
Tantrik methods of meditation fall into two categories:
meditation “with form” which is called sapeksha
dhyanam in Sanskrit, and meditation “without form”
which is called nirapeksha dhyanam.
Meditation without Form
Tantrikas use meditation without form to enter directly
into and cultivate the state of their original Nature,
that of Primordial Awareness. Newcomers to meditation
often find this method of meditation difficult. For this
reason, the Tantrik teachings give many preliminary practices
that are in the category of meditation “with form”.
Meditation with Form
Meditation with form is based on:
- working with the content, qualities and processes
of the mind
- working with subtle sound-vibrations called mantra
- working with visualizations of deities
and vortices of energy and channels found in the subtle
body
- cultivating enlightened qualities such as compassion,
contentment, etc.
In Tantrik meditation practice, the goal is not to
escape or transcend worldly reality, nor is it to reject
the world as an obstacle to realization or dismiss it
as “unreal”.
Rather, Tantrik meditation seeks to reveal our selves
and the world of phenomena as the “magical display”
(energetic projection) of the one Primordial Awareness.
Fruit of the Practice
The fruit of meditation practice of form or no-form
is to abide in primordially pure Awareness while living,
free of dualistic suffering and confusion. When we are
living in this liberated experience we are said to be
a “jivanamukta”. The creativity, compassion,
wisdom and peace that we have become is then naturally
radiated for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Courses & Classes
Courses in the Way of Meditation are
open to anyone regardless of age or physical disability.
Some courses have preliminary pre-requisites; please
be sure to check the course description for any pre-requisites
at the time of enrollment.
A weekly drop-in group meditation class
to support Trika Kula Community meditation practitioners
is held at Yoga Mandala on Wednesday mornings from 5:45am
to 7:00am. All are welcome. Check
the status of this class here.
You may view the Meditation
Instruction sheet used in that class (in .pdf form).
Meditation
Workshops and Events
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